Companies mop up Rs 44,000 crore in Oct; Rs 2.86 lakh crore since Apr

New Delhi: Indian companies have garnered nearly Rs 44,000 crore through private placement of corporate bonds in October, taking the total to over Rs 2.86 lakh crore in the first 7 months of the current fiscal.

The funds have been raised for expansion, to support working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.

Corporate bonds are essentially a certificate of debt issued by firms for their businesses.

As per data available with capital markets regulator Sebi, companies have collectively mopped-up Rs 43,931 crore in October, much higher than Rs 26,611 crore raised in the preceding month.

This has taken the total funds mobilisation to Rs 2.86 lakh crore in the April-October period of 2015-16, while firms have raked in Rs 4.04 lakh crore in the entire past fiscal.

Besides, the number of issues in the period under review climbed to 214 from 199 in September.

Amid a volatile equity markets, corporate bonds have become popular among investors as it offers lower risk and higher income than shares, market experts said.

Besides, companies have been opting for corporate bonds route to mop-up fresh capital as they are finding the instrument more cheaper than banks, they added.

Of the total funds raised in October, Rs 18,782 was raised by companies listed only on the mop-up fresh capital (NSE), while Rs 14,614 crore were mobilised through issues only on BSE.